ASCE Metropolitan Section - Geotechnical Group

Design of Foundations for the World's Tallest Buildings

Geotechnical Group Chair Walter J. Papp, Jr. (right) presents a Golden Apple to Clyde N. Baker, Jr. (left) after the lecture (Photo by Robert Talby)

Clyde N. Baker, Jr., P.E., S.E. delivered a technical lecture titled "Design of Foundations for the World's Tallest Buildings" at the CUNY Graduate Center on Thursday, March 18, 2010. Mr. Baker is currently the Senior Principal Engineer with AECOM Technology Corporation in Illinois. Mr. Baker has graciously made a technical paper containing his pdf

presentation available.

Dr. Lars Andresen (left) receiving a golden apple from Geotechnical Group Chair Walter Papp at the end of the GZA Lecture.

The First GZA Lecture was delivered by Dr. Lars Andresen of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute at the CUNY Graduate Center on Thursday, February 18, 2010. This was the inaugural lecture of a new annual series sponsored by GZA Geoenvironmental, Inc. The lecture was on "Finite Element Analyses Applied to Design of Offshore Foundations and Anchors."

Walter J. Papp, Jr. (center) presented Golden Apples to Mr. Fisher (left) and Mr. Rhyner (right) after the Kapp Lecture (Photo by Robert Talby)

The 35th Martin S. Kapp Lecture and the 6th Annual "Meet & Greet" Dinner was held at Il Campanello Ristorante in Manhattan on Thursday, January 21, 2010. Alan Fisher, P.E., Chief Engineer of the Construction Structures Group for Cianbro Corporation and Frederick C. Rhyner, P.E., Associate at Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers presented a talk on "Solving the Problem of Creep at Amtrak's Thames River Bridge."

Robert B. Bittner, P.E. (right) receiving a golden apple from Geotechnical Group Chair Walter Papp at the end of the Mueser Rutledge Lecture.

On November 19, 2009, Robert B. Bittner, P.E. delivered the 19th Annual Mueser Rutledge Technical Lecture at the CUNY Graduate Center Recital Hall. Mr. Bittner is the President of Bittner-Shen Consulting Engineers, Inc., located in Portland, Oregon. He delivered a lecture titled "Construction Methods and Design of Marine Structures–The Search for a Better Solution."

Lateral Load Analysis on Pile Groups

Professor Kyle Rollins of BYU (left) received a golden apple from Geotechnical Group Chair Walter Papp at the end of the lecture.

Group behavior of piles has always posed a design challenge to practitioners. It is found convenient to relate the behavior of a single pile in a group to that of a single isolated pile. Generally, this is done by utilizing a "P" multiplier. The industry relies of findings from field studies and analytical studies to estimate appropriate value of the multiplier that can be used in design.

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